Aitsu Mune
by Nekkyou Hiryuu
Summary: When an encounter with a certain Reikai ruler changes her destiny, other forces step in to prevent what will be the end of their tyranny...and said "her" isn't too happy...
1. Tantou

Heeeyyy, look…another new story! ^^ I love muses. *huggles Tsubaki* Title may change…and no prologue! *audience gasps* I've decided not to waste a short snippet opening up the story, but not to fear…I haven't left any bit of information out!  
  
~Aitsu Mune~  
  
Chapter One: Tantou  
  
A small child, perhaps six or seven, skipped through the dirty alleys of a small but prestigious village of Chigiri, singing loudly. She dragged a filthy blanket behind her, not much better than the rags she wore as a dress. Her eyes were bright peridots, easily revealing her undoubtedly cunning and energetic nature.   
  
"Drorsday, Drorsday!" Came the words, to the familiar childhood tune of teasing. "Iiiiit's Drorsday!" She announced with a little jump, sliding through an obscure doorway and into a very gloomy-looking blacksmith's shop. An old man with pincers for hands and spines growing out of his hunched back turned to look at her, bulbous eyes repulsive to everyone but the little girl.  
  
"Ah…Miss Merliliti!" He said in happy surprise, releasing the hammer he had been using to forge a severely curved sword over a hot anvil. His hardened skin was the color of rust.  
  
The girl stuck out her lip, slouching. "Don't call me that." She insisted. "My name's-"  
  
"Yes, we all know your name." The crab-man waved a pincer at her in a spiraling motion. It obviously meant something, for she ran off and returned a moment later with a large flask. The man took it from her, patting her head. "That's good, Miss Merliliti."  
  
Miss Merliliti did not protest the usage of her last name at the second mentioning. "Is it ready, Giwaku? Is it? Is it? Is it?" She leapt around excitedly, curly copper-russet hair flying around her face as she did so. "I've been waiting forever, is it ready?"  
  
Master Giwaku laughed, leaning back into an unsteady wooden chair. He reached one double-jointed arm expertly behind its frame, drawing out a small hide bag with slow movements. It was obvious that he enjoyed making the little girl wait, for a moment later he burst into even more laughter, taking another swig from the flask before tossing it to the girl.  
  
She nearly tore it open, eyes even wider (if at all possible) in delight as she drew out a twisting dagger, the wooden hilt carved to model many scuttling crabs.  
  
"It's perfect!" She cried, flinging herself at the old blacksmith. "Thank you!"  
  
"Hey…hey!" Giwaku protested, eyes watching the dagger still clasped in her hand. "That thing's got a sheath, y'know." He dug in one of his many pockets with one mottled-brown pincer; it emerged clasping a leather sheath attached to a thick belt.  
  
"Oooh…" Her eyes went even wider as the Master helped her buckle it around her waist. "This is the best. Really." She smiled in a moment of rare tranquility, still clutching the ratty blanket.  
  
"You're very welcome, Miss." He patted her on the head, giving the empty flask for refilling. She scurried off yet again to some unknown source, reappearing in front of him with it filled to the brim. Raising an eyebrow, the blacksmith drank deeply. "You're getting better at that."  
  
She nodded, eyes twinkling. With a twitch of an eye, the hammer rose from its resting place and pounded halfheartedly at the spiraled sword before falling to the dirty ground.  
  
"Well…you could use more work on that, girl." Giwaku winked, smiling as she replaced the hammer to its proper position. "Now, tell me about today."  
  
She settled down on the ground in front of his chair, hands folded obediently over her knees. "Well, Sama's got a cold, and I think your anvil needs a vacation."  
  
Giwaku listened intently, not one bit condescending or confused. "Good, good…"  
  
"And I'm going to make my blanket into a grand dress; I want to go watch the parrots with Mergi soon, and practice with my dagger!"  
  
"Now, what do parrots have to do with daggers?"  
  
"…nothing. Should they?"  
  
"In a perfect world, my dear…now please continue." He leaned back, closing his eyes and running a pincer through sparse silver hair.  
  
"I think someone important is coming to the village soon. There's a party tonight at Kajou's, I can't wait."  
  
"Well, don't drink yourself sick this time." He grinned. Although she didn't look it (or act it), the little girl was just about his age. "Remember what you learned?"  
  
"Uh…" She thought hard. "Don't tease the clock?"  
  
Giwaku roared with laughter, wiping a tear of mirth from his beady eyes. "Exactly." 


	2. Ittai

Well, thanks for all your support, Inu-chan! And Celebrindae…and Kia, for putting up with my endless questions. I'd also like to thank the bicycle bell in Celes Remix, and Tsubaki for hiding my black ink-pen! ^^;; I hope this is as perfect as I thought it would be.   
  
Gray: o.o?  
  
Kel: Yes, Gray. *feeds Pac-man to Gray*  
  
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~Aitsu Mune~  
  
Chapter Two: Ittai  
  
The small girl twirled in front of a full-length mirror, proudly examining her work. It was later in the day, nearly sundown. After taking her leave from Master Giwaku, Rei had immediately set to work on her new gown, made from the precious childhood blanket. It had taken much patience and many prickings of fingers with a needle, but here it was.  
  
It wrapped tightly around her torso like a traditional kimono, but billowed out and trailed behind her. There were no sleeves, but what material remained had been fashioned into a cape that draped over her shoulders. She smiled, twirling faster and faster, not really caring about the mirror anymore, and -  
  
CRRASSSH! She toppled into the grand mirror, sending it shattering to the hard wooden floors with a careless leap. A middle-aged youkai bustled in, forked tongue flicking out into the air every few moments. She sighed, flicking a wrist at the shattered mirror. Rei watched in astonishment as it began to repair itself, piece by razor-sharp piece.  
  
"Sssssseven yearsssss bad luck, Misssss…" The snake-woman shook a scaled finger. "What would you do withhhhhout me?"  
  
"I suppose I'd have lifetimes of bad luck." Rei replied cynically, grinning up at her caretaker. "Thank you again, Aeijero."  
  
"Little Misssssss isss very welcome." Aeijero bowed and exited the second of the house's two rooms, heading for her own chambers. What notions that child had, one of these days she was going to get herself into serious trouble, with no one to help her. "Poor Misssss Merliliti." She mumbled to herself, checking her scaled complexion in a small hand mirror.  
  
Meanwhile, Rei had left the house in search of friends. The village was crawling with them, for there was hardly a soul that she could not somehow befriend, however begrudging they were at the idea.  
  
"Halloooo…" She poked her head into a number of corners around the village. There had to be someone who was going, too… "Sabishii!" She called into a large wooden house, much more carefully built than the other huts and sod houses.  
  
There was no reply, but the girl knew Sabi too well to think he wasn't home. She stepped into the residence, skipping around a table. "Sabi, c'mon!"  
  
A rustling sound came from a pile of blankets shoved into a corner, and a teenaged boy poked his head out. He had long forest green hair that was put painstakingly into several hundred small braids, each with a tiny bell affixed to the tie. He had bright golden eyes, clouded with sleep. A single white horn stuck out of the top of his forehead, slanting backwards.  
  
"What ees eet now?" He yawned, showing fangs in dire need of a good brushing. "Every other day ees Sabi dis an' Sabi dat…" The demon spoke in an odd sort of accent, something like a cross between French and Jamaican.  
  
"The party!" Rei cried, dragging him to his feet. It wasn't easy, as he was much taller than her and very unwilling to stand. "Aren't you going?"  
  
"Ah, no." Sabi shook his head, the many braids making light tinkling sounds as they shook with it. "Ah'm not much for parties, you know dat."  
  
"Awww, Sabishii!" She pouted, looking up at him. "It'll be fun, but you can go home if it's not."  
  
Sabi thought, before sighing in defeat. "Ah guess you've beat me, once more."  
  
"YAAAAY!" Rei grinned and dragged him out of the house as quickly as possible, before he could change his mind.  
  
"Ay, slow down!" He stumbled after her, having to bend nearly in half to avoid having his arm yanked off by the short girl.  
  
"Hurry!" She began to skip, seeing the shadow of Kajou's hut not too far away.  
  
"Yeah?" Sabi yanked his arm free of Rei's grip, bounding ahead of her easily. "Ha!" He turned, sticking his tongue out at her before running some more.  
  
"Heeeeey!" Rei scowled, running after him. "No fair!"  
  
"All's fair when there's a party!" ((A/N: Guess who's tired of typing Sabi's accent? x.x)) He laughed, his emotions a complete turnaround from when Rei had dragged him out of the house.  
  
Rei grinned, stopping. A moment later she vanished, reappearing right in front of Kajou's door.  
  
"Now who's the cheater?!" Sebi cried, panting to a stop before her. "There's got to be a rule against that somewhere."  
  
"Well, too bad for you." Rei flipped her hair, walking inside.  
  
The party was already in full swing. Youkai of all kinds were in attendance, and she could spot a few Hanyou in their own little corner, ignoring the others and being ignored in turn. Chigiri was a tolerant village, but it was inevitable that the natural separation of the two races would activate at such an event. Kajou was nowhere to be seen, at least from where she was. Rei picked a spot on a soft rug to watch the proceedings, especially amused by Sabishii's attempts to engage in conversation with a particularly attractive girl.  
  
"Poor Sabi." She shook her head, grinning. "Kochou's already got a lover." But how was he to know, really? He never left that house of his unless she came along to drag him out of it. Shame, really, he was a likeable person. She was about to go tell him to stop bothering the poor girl before he got socked for it when a conspicuous whisper made her stop half-standing.  
  
"You really shouldn't be here, Lord…" A diminutive-looking sort of dretch was seated on a stool, his back to Rei. She stumbled to her feet, stealing closer. "If your father finds out that you're shirking responsibilities…"  
  
"Oh, be quiet." A person she couldn't see spoke. Rei stood on her tiptoes, peering over one edge of the long counter that served as a bar. "You're always talking about my father, George. Why not enjoy ourselves?"  
  
The dretch-looking thing sighed. "Very well, sir, but I'D rather not get in trouble." And with that, he was gone. Rei dashed to where he had been, leaping up into the seat and finding herself face-to-face with…  
  
"A baby." She tilted her head, not noticing his startled yelp. "How adorable! I'll take you home and call you Pierre and we'll be best friends!"  
  
"We shall certainly NOT." He replied indignantly. How he managed to talk through his pacifier was a mystery for the poor girl.  
  
"I'm…sorry. Hey, you're not a baby." Rei wrinkled her nose. "Babies don't talk."  
  
"That one does." Someone hefted her out of the chair, lifting her onto high shoulders. Very high shoulders.  
  
"Kajou!" Rei cried, not at all pleased. "Stop iiiiiiit…."   
  
The giant giraffe youkai only laughed, taking her hands to steady her. His neck was no larger than a normal person's, but he was extremely tall. Furred horns that stuck out of long golden hair brushed the ceiling with soft scraping sounds. A ropelike tail stuck out of the back of his sienna kimono, which draped over two cloven hooves that replaced feet. His eyes were large and brown, but not as large as Rei's, or as bulbous as Master Giwaku's.  
  
"Don't hassle Koenma." He laughed, making no move to release her.  
  
"That's all right." Koenma took a gulp of wine, waving his hand dismissively. "Children are great. Great drinks, by the way, excellent…" He nodded, looking towards the door to watch more people arrive.  
  
"If you say so." Kajou gave him an unsure look, setting Rei back down in her chair.   
  
She promptly stuck her tongue out at him, grinning obnoxiously. "Ha."  
  
Kajou rolled his eyes, moving to talk to other guests.  
  
"I'm not a kid." Rei watched Koenma sullenly. "I'm one hundred and eight, but I'm turning one hundred and nine next month."  
  
"That's nice." Koenma drained his glass, refilling it from the decanter that rested on the table.   
  
"You don't believe me!" She slumped in her seat, staring at Koenma. "No one ever does, bakas."  
  
Normally the Reikai lord wouldn't have pursued conversation with such an annoying person, but something seemed different about her. (It was just all the wine going to his head, of course, but we don't want to let him know that…) He leaned back, an intrigued look on his face.  
  
"You certainly don't act your age."  
  
"Well, neither do you!"  
  
"You don't even know how old I am!" Koenma leapt up, barely managing to be any taller than he was sitting.  
  
"Well, I'm sure you don't act it." Rei rolled her eyes, flicking a shrimp tail at him.  
  
"That's it…" Koenma spat out his pacifier, stuffing it in his pocket. "You're goin' DOWN."  
  
"Oh yeah?" She jumped up, grinning. FINALLY, she was going to have some fun! …well, fun with a baby, but she'd take what she could get.   
  
"Ergeh…yeah." Koenma jumped off his chair, wobbling. Rei giggled.  
  
"Funny drunk baby!" She skipped around the table, helping him to his feet. "You can't catch me and make me act my age!"  
  
Koenma staggered, waving a fist after Rei as she skipped around the table. No one paid the two any mind; they had long since gotten used to Rei's strange antics. As long as nothing burned down or died, they were kind enough to ignore whatever kind of havoc she was wreaking.  
  
"I'll..get you…" The Reikai lord staggered after Rei for the better part of five minutes, somehow never spiilling a drop of his wine. He finally had to rest, leaning against someone's leg as if it were a piece of furniture. Rei skidded to a halt across a patch of hardwood not covered by a fancy rug, turning around in dismay.  
  
"Are you tired already?" She whined, leaning against another leg. "You're no fun." Wasn't there anyone around here who wasn't too drunk to move?  
  
"You should…work for me." Koenma commented sluggishly, placing his glass on the floor. Rei quickly snatched it up, taking a large gulp to drain it. "You could…outrun…peoplllllzzzzzzzzzz…" He landed on the carpet with a soft thump, unconscious.  
  
"Noooooooo…." Rei moaned, poking him with a cocktail shrimp. "No fair, cheater."  
  
The cocktail shrimp didn't seem to mind. 


	3. Utagai

Oooh…Kia-face, I got Koenma down perfectly? Awww. ^-^ And I was so worried. Yeah, little Rei is cute. . Deadly, but cute. I have some kind of weird bacterial/viral thing that has to do with…something, I'm not quite sure what. So I'm home from school, listening to Speed Over Beethoven, and working on this. ^^ I think I got lucky on the Koenma thing, really. Drunk people are so easy to write.  
  
Yeeees, Apocalypse…this IS the INSANE Rei we all know an love…the Rei that I created…~.^ I love to remind people of that. -.-'' I'm hopeless, really. At least this story is rocking Kia's socks. ^^ That's always a good sign…  
  
On a different note, I would NOT like to thank Friends of Mineral Town for forcing me to play it all the time. X.x…save me.  
  
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~Aitsu Mune~  
  
Chapter Three: Utagai  
  
"Ugh…" Rei stumbled out Kajou's door at a very early time in the morning. She'd been able to rouse Koenma for a brief game of shrimp poker, but other than that the baby-thing had been asleep the whole time.  
  
She somehow managed to drag her feet down Chigiri's muddy paths, noting with some dismay that it looked like it was going to rain. Most of the other guests had already gone home, but a few were still at the party, more or less awake than the rest of the village. Too tired to make it home, Rei made a sleepy turn into Giwaku's smithy, lying down on a pile of moldy hay to sleep.  
  
"Rei…" She could hear a voice hissing in her mind. "Little Rei…" A grey mist filled her mind, and she found herself standing in a graveyard, surrounded by an omnipresent feeling of suppressed anguish.  
  
"H-hello?" Rei called, backing up against a tall gravestone shaped like a ferocious gargoyle. Its eyes were precious stones, rubies by the look, glimmering as if the stone creature would come to life at any moment.  
  
There was no immediate response to the girl's call, but the mists began to swirl around the gargoyle, seeping into the many cracks along its gargantuan frame and coating the stone surface with a substance that looked much like silver blood.   
  
An otherworldly glow surrounded the gravestone as a pained cry echoed from the sky. Rei jumped back as the gargoyle shifted, rising awkwardly to stand on its own. Its thick tail thrashed as it looked around, cracking two other gravestones nearly in half. Apparently it still had the stone skin, though it was hidden by the dripping silver blood.  
  
The gargoyle finally noticed the small girl, kneeling down on all fours once more to investigate her more closely. Rei backed up against another gravestone, this one bearing a crow as the guardian. The gargoyle tilted its head, reaching out to the girl with an open palm.  
  
Rei blinked, a little confused. "You don't seem all that bad.." She prodded the giant hand with her own, surprised to find that the silver blood had vanished, leaving the stone as a tough hide. She could see muscles rippling underneath the stone-colored flesh of the creature, and intelligence in his ruby eyes. "Are you…?" She stepped onto the waiting palm, not severely alarmed as the fingers closed a bit, viciously pointed claws forming a cage around her.  
  
"Thoughtful." Rei murmured, hugging one of the fingers. "You don't want me to fall."  
  
The gargoyle sighed, lifting her higher so she could see his face. "Sssstay in Chigiri." He continued to walk, approaching the unearthly barrier surrounding the graveyard. "You musssssst not….desert usss…" His voice was smooth and sweet, like a snake's.  
  
"Wait…hey, where are we going?" The beast was walking straight through the curtain of icy mist. It froze her skin, the cold stinging like needles… "Stop that!"  
  
Rei jerked upright, not pleased to discover that she was soaking wet. The cold water had chilled her all over, soaking her thoroughly. Master Giwaku stood over her with an empty bucket, expression reproachful. She could see that the sun had been up for some time, but the air was still cold.  
  
"Don't be mad, now…" He helped the girl up, wringing a bit of water out of her hair. "I shouldn't have let you sleep so long in the first place. I think it's high time for you to get home, girl…"  
  
Rei shook her head, looking up at her old friend. "Giwaku…Koenma offered me a job. He wants me to come to Reikai, I think…he didn't really say all that much."  
  
"Did he, now?" Giwaku looked surprised. The old crab youkai hobbled over to his chair, sitting down. Rei sat in front of him on the ground as she had done the day before, rapt. "And what are you going to do?"  
  
"I don't know!" Rei wailed, exasperated. She didn't want to mention the dream…Giwaku didn't believe much in dream omens. "I…I don't even know what he wants me to do…but…I think it would be fun."  
  
"Fun!" Giwaku sighed. "Fun is fun, is it not? But that's often the worst reason to go, girl. As much as I hate to say it, I do agree with you…if you really wish to, I believe there may be a few things you'll learn there…useful things."  
  
"You…you really think I should?" Rei asked hesitantly. She'd expected Master Giwaku to forbid her…or try to forbid her. He was not much of an authority figure for the girl, although he was like a father.  
  
"Yes..now get, before I change my mind." He waved her off, watching her go with a bit of sadness in his normally blank eyes. "Good luck…"  
  
Rei darted through the streets, running as fast as she could. "Kajou!" She called, crashing to a halt in the party-thrower's doorway. "Where's Koenma? I need to speak with him!" If Koenma had left before she got a chance to accept…  
  
"Hm…" Kajou stumbled out of the living room, obviously still drunk. "He…ah..'e left, Rei…"  
  
Rei bit her lip. "You mean…to Reikai?"  
  
"Oh, no!" Kajou let out a bellow of a laugh, brown eyes watering with laughter. "The inn..he wanted decent rest…ingrate."  
  
Rei knew the beginning of a rant when she heard it, so she rushed to cut her friend off before he could elaborate on his thoughts. "Thank you, Kajou!" She stood on her tiptoes to kiss the hand that dangled just above her eye level, dashing off to the Inn.  
  
Chigiri's Inn wasn't what you would call a traditional Inn. The village was too small to have such a luxury, so an old woman named Yuuyou would open up her (rather enormous) house to perfect strangers, offering a room and three meals a day for a small fee. Though she provided this service to anyone who asked, she was not a patient lady. So her reaction was perfectly understandable after she had to sit through Rei's ten-minute explanation of why she was searching for Koenma.  
  
"…and then he told me that he'd come here." Rei finished, still grinning like mad.  
  
"Yes, I've seen him! Upstairs, the snoring one. Now get…out of my sight for at least an hour." Yuuyou rubbed her temples as the girl scampered up the grand staircase. That girl…well, at least it sounded as if she was leaving soon, at any rate.  
  
Rei took the stairs two at a time, the noise echoing down the hallway and beyond. She halted at the top, listening. There were five doors on either side of the wide corridor, but two were washrooms and one led to the attic. She walked slowly towards the end, sound muffled by the crimson runner stapled to the wooden floor. At first she heard no sound at all, but then a faint, unmistakable noise met her ears.  
  
"KOENMA!" She yelled, bursting into the last door on the left.  
  
"Wha? Huh? HEY! GET OFF ME…I…arrrgh.." Koenma struggled as she picked him up and squeezed him, laughing madly.  
  
"Giwaku thinks I should go! I think I'll go. Are you leaving today?" Her eyes were wide as she finally released the pajama-clad Reikai lord, awaiting an answer.  
  
"Go where?" Koenma seemed just a little irritated. "You're Rei, aren't you?"  
  
Rei blinked, confused. "…yes…but you said I could work for you!"  
  
"I did nothing of the kind." Koenma huffed, sticking his little feet into fuzzy bunny slippers. He honestly couldn't remember much of last night…and sleep hadn't been that good, either. All those dreams of the aggressive cocktail shrimp… "We're overstaffed as it is, I'm looking at cutting back ten percent of my staff, and…hey…what're you doing…stop that…."  
  
Rei's eyes had begun to well up with tears. A few spilled down her cheeks as she tried not to cry. Ever since Sabishii had told her it made her look like a big baby, she had done her best not to.  
  
"B-but…you said that you needed…" She took in a gasp of air, plainly losing the battle over her emotions. "…a p-person…" Rei sniffled. "Y-you big meanie!" She wailed at him, sobbing into the fluffy comforter.  
  
"Hey…no…don't cry!" Koenma panicked. He could see it now… 'Reikai Lord taunts small child'… his father would be furious. "I…uh…see the bunny?" He held up one of his bunny slippers, obviously trying to distract her from her problems.  
  
Rei blinked at the bunny slipper, eyes red and puffy. "Bunny." She grabbed the slipper, hugging it nearly to death in her crushing embrace. "B-but…what ab-bout the j-job?" She wasn't going to be diverted so easily.  
  
"Er..yes, bunny." Koenma blinked. He didn't own any other cute articles of clothing…what was he going to do? "Say…why don't you just…ah..come to Reikai. For a little while." He added hastily. "Maybe…maybe you won't like it after all."  
  
If Rei had been bawling her eyes out moments before, Koenma certainly couldn't tell. She let out an excited scream, bouncing up and down on the bed.   
  
"You mean it?" She stared at him, still a little wary.  
  
"Yes." Koenma had somehow snuck away from the threat of another hug, sitting all the way across the bed. "I suppose since you've never been there, I should tell Botan to come pick us up…you'll be able to find your way there after she shows you once."  
  
"Oooh." Rei grinned. Botan. What a pretty name! "When?"  
  
"Soon. Now get out so I can change!"  
  
Rei skipped down the hallway, still clutching the fuzzy bunny slipper. As long as she didn't have to change any diapers, she was going to love it. 


End file.
